I wanted to share what has been happening with Roy, my 16 year old orange tabby. He was diagnosed with CRF about a year and a half ago. I started giving him fluids and immediately tried to get him on more of a raw diet along with a weekly injection of Sub-Q fluids.

First, Roy and my other two cats refused to eat anything but canned food. They had eaten Friskee's Turkey/Giblet or Friskee's Beef/LIver, big mistake, because it has been proved that bad diet is the fundamental cause of CRF. I immediately got them on a better brand of canned. I use Merrick's, just because it has bigger chunks of meat and large selection which do not contain fish.

I recommend Dr. Pitcairn's book, Natural Health for Dogs and Cats or Anita Frazier's The New Natural Cat. Both have wonderful resources and diet ideas for CRF cats. One myth that Dr. Pitcairn has debunked is the depletion of protein myth. Studies unfortunately found that the reduction of protein in CRF diet resulted in mass muscle loss.

Finally, I was able to switch all three cats to a 1/2 raw diet by heating the canned Merrick's and mixing in very very small chopped raw turkey or chicken necks, wings, thighs from Whole Foods or a reputable meat market which cleans their knives and uses organic healthy meat and produce. I have also had really good luck with Raw Advantage which I have delivered frozen from The Natural Pet online. When they really get persnickety, I add some raw chopped chicken liver or gizzard from Whole Foods. An occasional treat of raw beef heart is great for CRF cats.

I moved back to Texas from California during all of this switching and was lucky enough to find Dr. Will Falconer, a holistic vet. He doesn't take many new clients, but took on Roy and now sees all of our household friends. I was shocked to find that our cats do not have to die from CRF. I had always heard from my vets that CRF was fatal and to euthanize. Dr. Falconer examined Roy and held a homeopathic consultation with us for about an hour. He started Roy on a sulphur remedy which he takes orally every day and a holistic renal supplement taken twice a day. Along with a plug in recycling water bowl and his Sub-Q fluids, that is all Roy needs.

He has been on the holistic treatment for 8 months. I didn't really notice a difference until one day after I had him shaved/groomed. He was running around like a kitten, affectionate, playful. I hadn't seen Roy behave like that in years. In fact, he has always been a rather serious cat, a loner.

I certainly don't mean to take away from what anyone's vet says and am no expert, but I have a very different cat who rarely vomits. Sometimes he needs two fluid injections a week instead of just one, but other than that, he seems very happy. Dr. Falconer makes no promises, but says Roy will probably go peacefully in his sleep someday, of old age, not CRF.

If you are interested in finding out more about this topic and nutrition for your pet(s) in general, please read more about the resources on the Nutrition Page or feel free to email me at doggirl1@earthlink.net

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